Quote:
Originally Posted by wireframe
I've never tested for radon but now you guys are freaking me out. Which test should I get?
Is the risk lower in an old house? For some reason, I thought radon was a new-build problem. My house is from the 50's and I never even considered radon testing until now.
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Its more likely to be lower because older houses are much more "leaky" than modern energy efficient homes. Increased air circulation helps alot for dissipating the radon gas concentration.
In terms of actual cancer risk, the radon gas concentration is also only half the story, because it is also strongly tied to the amount of small particles floating in the air. When radon gas decays, it creates solid daughter progeny that now stick to air particulates, and these are the main vector into your lungs. If you diminish air particulate matter, you are also diminishing your cancer risk. Changing your furnace air filters regularily, disposing of dander producing pets, and/or running air purifiers in those basement bedrooms should theoretically help.
The particulate side of the equation is one of the main reasons for the variability/lack of agreement in recommended 'safe' levels of radon gas between the different agencies - they are trying to peg it to solely to radon concentration while making their own blanket estimate on air particulate density.